Friday, December 22, 2006

Brought to Justice?

Now the marines that did the killings of civilians in Haditha seem to be brought to justice. Al Jazeera writes on December 21st:

Four US marines have been charged with 13 counts of murder in connection with the killing of 24 civilians in Haditha, western Iraq.

Four marines will face other charges related to the killings last November, in the most serious war crime case involving US soldiers since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US army said on Thursday.The killing of the two dozen men, women and children is one of several incidents in which US troops have been accused of killing civilians and dereliction of duty. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called the Haditha killings a "terrible crime".

In announcing the charges, Marine Col. Stewart Navarre said a press release issued the day after the killings wrongly reported that 15 Iraqi civilians were killed by a roadside bomb and that Marines and Iraqi army soldiers killed eight insurgents in a subsequent firefight.

This is, however, only the tip of the iceberg. A lot more crimes have been committed than just this one, and the few others that have been reported. War always takes its toll on civilians. This war does not appear to be an exception.